Surgeons gather in Cebu for Asia-Pacific congress

UC President Augusto Go welcomes delegates of the 13th Asia Pacific Congress of Endoscopic & Laparoscopic Surgeons of Asia (ELSA) during the pre-congress workshop at UC Medical Arts Building.
CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON

Surgeons and doctors from the Asia Pacific region gathered in Cebu for the 13th Asia-Pacific Congress of Endoscopic & Laparoscopic Surgeons of Asia (ELSA), which will be held today until Saturday, November 18 at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort & Spa.

The congress will highlight the modern techniques in surgery in the least invasive fashion.

During the ELSA 2017 Pre-Congress Workshops held yesterday at UCMed Medical Arts Building, the delegates of the congress were shown and taught how to perform minimally invasive surgery safely and effectively instead of the traditional open surgery.

Minimally invasive surgery or laparoscopic surgery is a surgical technique wherein procedures are performed through tiny incisions instead of one large opening.

“With the small incision surgery, the patient has a less painful recovery. The patient takes less pain medication and will stay in the hospital shorter,” said Dr. Miguel Mendoza, overall chair of the pre-congress workshops, which was in collaboration with the Philippine Association of Laparoscopic & Endoscopic Surgeons (PALES), Philippine Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, Philippine Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (PSCRS) and the Philippine Hernia Society (PHS).

“The infection rate is lower and the patients can go back to their usual activities in less than a week. The scar is also more cosmetically acceptable and will most likely disappear in just six months,” Mendoza added.

The congress also aims to introduce new technology advancement in equipment and instruments to aid in operation which were demonstrated in the workshops through 3D surgery.

Images from the 3D surgery came from endoscopic cameras or a camera that is used to look inside a patient’s body, which were transmitted to the screens in the lecture rooms of the delegates.

“We will bear witness to another milestone of being the first hospital in the Philippines to live-stream simultaneous surgeries conducted by experts today,” said Atty. Augusto Go, founder of the University of Cebu (UC).

The simultaneous workshops consisted of the following: Bariatric Surgery, Colon, Upper Gastrointestinal (GI), Hernia Surgery and Surgical Endoscopy which will be conducted by prominent international surgeons.